Bucket o Thoughts: Religion always has a hidden motive for the things it does for others. So I find it hard to trust Christians when they always emphasize love in the same sentence they emphasize not offending people. It makes it sound like the motive for loving others is not to benefit the other, but to benefit yourself by causing them to think good things about you (because you only dare to say the nice gushy things that win crowd approval). Im obviously not against having a good reputation. Im not one of those weirdos who thinks its not really the gospel unless someone gets offended, but I am one of those weirdos who thinks its more important to do what is right for the person, no matter how it makes them feel about me--even if it means Im no longer relevant. My view of love is that it does whatever it takes to protect people, even if that means making the person mad. Ive learned this lesson from my managers at work. If I had no idea what a good leader look like, I would still think managers are unappreciative, bossy jerks who get off on barking orders with a strict, cold attitude, and then ignoring what has been done just to complain about what hasnt been done (sounds like you, Dan! Aww, thanks!) but theyre not like that. They are good leaders who understand their position and why they are there. Not to win the good opinions of their employees, but to make sure their employees do what is right for the store. The well-being of the store is always first in the mind of a manager. Good opinions are a bonus--a luxury--but for a manager, good opinions are not a necessity. The necessity is only that the work that needs doing gets done for the sake of the store. And that is what love looks like to me. That, whether or not people love me or hate me because they think Im a strict jerk who, for whatever reason enjoys picking on people and complaining about things, the work that needs to get done for the well-being of people, gets done. See, contrary to popular belief, Love doesnt always feel like the climax of a romantic comedy (not that I ever watch those because Im a MAN!). It doesnt always end with you being hoisted up on peoples shoulders and celebrated, sometimes it ends with you being hoisted up on a cross and abandoned by the people you were trying to help (including friends and family) because you dared to challenge (oh, sorry, complain about) something youre not allowed to question. Why cant you question it? Because religion and politics said so! In a choice between shoulders and crosses, I would rather be lifted up on a cross. Because if you are approved by the crowd for something, you are then required to live up to that something for the rest your life. The exact moment you waver from what THEY think is the way you should act and talk, well, you end up on the same cross you were trying to avoid anyway. Knowing this makes it easy to be yourself without trying to hide your true expression behind a bunch of superficial spirituality. It makes it easy to love fearlessly because youre not worried about the outcome of your life, and therefore dont need to go out of your way in desperate attempts to protect it. When you dont worry about what people think of you, you are free to think of them. That is the real mission of love. The end!
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 20:29:35 +0000
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